Black men need to take responsibility for their sons when they get out of prison or jail

By Noble Johns

CHICAGO (BNW)  Each day you hear about Black on Black crime that has communities across the country looking for answers. But a solution for the problem with Black youths aberrant behavior appears to be elusive to say the least.

Elusive in that, you cannot solve a problem if you dont know what is causing the problem. Ergo, the problem with young Black men is that their fathers are not in their lives for whatever reason. It could be that hes in jail, or perhaps on drugs, or maybe so crossed out by a racist society that he just doesnt know how to be a father. Whatever the case, the problem with our Black youth is the same problem with their fathers. Theyre trapped in a racist system where the only hope for survival is a life of crime.

For example, the cops have charged three teenagers with first-degree murder in Derrion Albert's beating death. Silvanus Shannon, 19, Eugene Riley, 18, and Eric Carson, 16, all of Chicago, were charged as adults ordered held without bond authorities said. One of the three is a minor, but all will be charged as adults, prosecutors in Cook County said Monday.

While they only have a few of the kids who took part in the death in custody, on close examination chances are good that each kid that was arrested in the death were kids without fathers. Even Darrion Alber whose death was captured on video last week was without a father. In fact, Black men need to take responsibility for their sons when they get out of prison or jail!

His grandfather, Joseph Walker, showed his grandson's photographs and academic achievement awards to the press. Walker raised Albert, who was a dedicated student. Walker says Albert was walking home from school at the time of the attack and did not know the people in the riot. He and police believe Albert was an innocent victim who got caught in the middle.

"He was in Bible class this Tuesday night, church on Sundays. I had no trouble out of my grandson whatsoever. This thing that happened to him is so horrific, we just don't know what we're going to do. We've lost a really dear friend in my grandson. He was a blessed child," said Walker.

Massie, who says his community center has been in Roseland for 30 years, says this type of fight has become more common recently as two groups from Fenger have escalated the violence between them.

"I don't know where all this anger comes from these people today. That's just too much anger for someone to have in their heart. All I can do is pray for these people. I'm going to pray for forgiveness," said Walker.

The medical examiner has officially ruled Albert's death a homicide, saying he died from blunt head trauma. Ron Huberman, Chicago Public Schools CEO, said counselors will be on hand to help the students and the family.

According to authorities, 16-year-old Derrion Albert was walking from school in broad daylight when he was beaten to death. It happened on Thursday in Chicago's Roseland community on the far South Side in the 300-block of West 111th Street. Authorities said Derrion Albert was kicked, punched and beaten to death by several teens near the Agape Community Center.

Police say about a dozen teens were in a massive fight with sticks around 2:30 p.m. Albert got dragged into the mob. Albert was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and pronounced dead around 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Witnesses say the fight that Albert appeared to have walked into was between mostly students from his school, Fenger High, identified by the uniforms they wore.

The community center's surveillance cameras caught the beating death of Albert who was walking from Fenger High School.

"It looked like 100 kids. We're talking about kids all over the place, in every direction...On the video, there were kids hopping over cars. The kids had huge sticks. They were going after each other. It seemed as if it was not so much a targeted, but it was random," said Massie.

"Everyone was just letting him get beat...it was basically like he was really by himself," said Tynesha Jackson, witness.

"He was down and they started kicking him. Then I saw they had, like two-by-fours, that's when we realized that someone need to do something," said Linda Cotton, Agape Community Center.

Chicago police are still investigating the gang fight that erupted Thursday in Roseland that resulted in the death of 16-year-old Fenger High School student Derrion Albert.

Albert was killed in a melee near the school that police believe is a continuation of ongoing tensions between Fenger students that are members of rival gangs.